0.5-μm 3.3-V BiCMOS standard cells with 32-kilobyte cache andten-port register file

BiCMOS standard cell macros, including a 0.5-W 3-ns register file, a 0.6-W 5-ns 32-kbyte cache, a 0.2-W 3-ns table look-aside buffer (TLB), and a 0.1-W 3-ns adder, are designed with a 0.5-μm BiCMOS technology. A supply voltage of 3.3 V is used to achieve low power consumption. Several BiCMOS/CMOS circuits, such as a self-aligned threshold inverter (SATI) sense amplifier and an ECL HIT logic are used to realize high-speed operation at the low supply voltage. The performance of the BiCMOS macros is verified using a fabricated test chip     

Stereoscopic synthesized brain-surface imaging with MR angiography for localization of a peripheral mycotic aneurysm: case report

A patient with subacute bacterial endocarditis and a peripheral mycotic aneurysm is presented. We used a combined multi-slice surface anatomy scanning (SAS) and contrast-enhanced MR angiography image to determine the exact location of the small lesion by applying a skin marker on the scalp and visualizing the relationship of the marker to the brain surface structures and to the lesion. This technique was useful for the removal of a small peripheral aneurysm using only a limited craniotomy.     

Changes in Aging Behavior and Defect Structure of Yttria-Fully-Stabilized ZrO2 with Sc2O3 Doping

Methods of suppressing decreased conductivity in 8 mol% Y₂O₃-stabilized–92 mol% ZrO₂ (8YSZ) with aging were investigated. Different amounts of Sc₂O₃ were doped into 8YSZ. The electrochemical properties of Sc₂O₃-doped 8YSZ were measured, and the microstructural and local structural changes were characterized. The present results indicate that an appropriate amount of Sc₂O₃ doping, 3 or 4 mol%, effectively suppresses decreased conductivity with aging in 8YSZ.     

Kinetics and mechanism of carbothermic reduction of magnesia

The reaction between MgO and graphite powders under flowing argon atmosphere was studied using a dynamic thermogravimetric method. In the temperature range 293 to 1973 K, the effects of compacting pressure, magnesia/carbon ratio, heating rate, Ar carrier-gas flow rate, and CO-partial pressure were investigated. An experimentally determined reaction mechanism was proposed and discussed. The reduction process could be divided into two stages. The first stage includes the direct reaction between MgO and graphite particles and partial gas-solid reaction at relatively low temperature (below 1750 K). The overall reaction rate depends on the solid phase-boundary reaction between magnesia and carbon particles. The second stage is the gas-solid reaction between CO and MgO, which determines the overall reaction rate. The apparent activation energies of the two stages were estimated to be 208.29 and 374.13 kJ/mol, respectively.     

Fabrication of damascene Cu wirings using solid acidic catalyst

The copper damascene process is one of the most promising technologies for fabricating Cu wirings for electronic devices such as LSIs. In this research, the fabrication of damascene Cu wirings was conducted using solid acidic catalyst. When a Cu-plated wafer, whose oxide is a basic oxide is dipped into a mixture of oxidizing solution and acidic solution, surface atoms are ionized and etched off into the solution. However, because conventional nonelectrolytic etching does not have a reference surface, it is difficult to utilize for planarization. Therefore, a new nonelectrolytic machining method using a cation-exchange fabric instead of an acidic solution was developed. To be more precise, the planarization of a Cu-plated wafer was carried out by rubbing with the cation-exchange fabric in ozone water. Basically, this method exploits chemical reactions so that the physical properties of the workpiece surface are not deteriorated. Furthermore, this method uses no chemicals except for ozone water, which easily dissociates into water and oxygen molecules; thus, this method is a low-cost, environmentally friendly process. In this paper, as a preliminary experiment, the nonelectrolytic etching of a Cu sample using solutions of O₃ and CO₂ was carried out to inspect the dependence of the etching rate on [O₃] and [H⁺]. The results indicate that the etching rate increased as [O₃] and [H⁺] increased. When [H⁺] was high relative to [O₃], a smooth etch-pit-free surface was achieved. Next, nonelectrolytic etching using a cation-exchange fabric was carried out, and properties similar to those in the case of etching using solutions were obtained. Finally, damascene Cu wirings were fabricated using ozone water and a cation-exchange catalyst.     

A clinical study of respiratory infection isolating non-pathogenic Neisseria by transtracheal aspiration]

Neisseria species other than N. meningitidis and N. gonorrhoeae are generally regarded as commensal bacterial flora of the oropharynx, and little is known regarding cases of these non-pathogenic Neisseria species in the lower respiratory tract. We clinically examined respiratory tract infections from which non-pathogenic Neisseria species were isolated by transtracheal aspiration (TTA). The incidence of non-pathogenic Neisseria isolated was 54 (15.7%) out of 344 episodes of respiratory tract infections with isolated microorganisms from TTA, and was 17.6%, 15.8%, 14.3% for pneumonia, acute bronchitis, and chronic lower respiratory tract infection, respectively. All 54 episodes were isolated with other microorganisms such as alpha-Streptococcus spp. (75.9%), Haemophilus influenzae (25.9%) and anaerobics (22.2%). The isolation ratio according to the age group increased at 45 years of age or more, but did not increase with the advance of age. Predisposing factors were identified such as overt aspiration, iatrogenic procedure and heavy smoking. Cases without overt aspiration that had fevers of 38 degrees C or more or hypoxemia of less than PaO2 70 torr when detecting non-pathogenic Neisseria were observed more frequently in the aged than the non-aged. The findings suggest the detection of non-pathogenic Neisseria by TTA is influenced by the host state that the fall of microorganisms from the upper to lower respiratory tract cannot be defended or excluded by mucociliary transportation disorder due to underlying disease and smoking, or deterioration of physical status other than overt or silent aspiration.